


Riddles and Illnesses

by DaKittyIsLazy



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: And apparently Nori's awesome at it, BAMF!Ori, Bilbo Has Issues, Bilbo sucks at healing, Bofur got yelled at and now I feel really bad, Concerned!Beorn, Crack, Crying hobbits, F/M, Flower picking Nori, Hobbits and Elves are cousins YAY, Idiot!Dwarrows, In Love!Nori, M/M, Nice!Lobelia (cause I hate it when she's mean), Nori is a caring stalker, Not a total jerk!Thranduil, Ori beating up Dwalin, Sick!Bilbo, The Changing Disease :O, Thorin can't get a word in, Thorin's having a bad time, Tired!Gandalf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-26
Updated: 2013-04-27
Packaged: 2017-12-09 12:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/774426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaKittyIsLazy/pseuds/DaKittyIsLazy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hobbits are susceptible to a strange elven disease that destroys them from the inside out. Dwarrows, as thickheaded as they are, are not susceptible to this disease, and when Bilbo catches it they don't know what to do. Bilbo understands though, and at the first signs that he has caught this particular disease, he rushes off without notifying any of the dwarrows in the company beforehand. Thorin and Bofur go frantic, Nori causes trouble, and Gandalf gets a headache.</p><p> </p><p>(More tags will be added later)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Urgency

Sometimes, a hobbit, just has to face a certain dwarf king's anger. Sometimes, a hobbit, preferred to run away instead. It took Bilbo exactly 3 seconds to decide that in all honesty, the second option was much preferable to the first. So, with that in mind, Bilbo began walking at a rather fast pace to see Beorn. It was now the company’s second day in the giants company, Bilbo had quite wanted to stay, but now he wanted to be anywhere but here.  
“Little Bunny!” The ecstatic shape shifter reached down as if to pick Bilbo up as he usually did, but before he could Bilbo stepped back. Beorn's eyebrow shifted in confusion for a moment before he, sniffed the air tentatively. “Oh, poor little bunny...” Beorn's face became downcast, but then he smiled brightly. “Would you like some comfort food?” The giant boomed.  
Bilbo smiled sadly. “I'm afraid I don't have the time for that. Do you know of any elves living near here?” At this Beorn frowned gently and nodded.  
“Thranduil, the King of Mirkwood, is nearby, but are you sure you want him to-”  
“Yes, if possible” Bilbo cut Beorn off sharply. “When can we leave?”  
“In an hour or so. You need to bring food to eat on your journey. I suppose you shall be going alone little bunny?” Bilbo's eyebrows furrowed in concern.  
“About that... I would prefer it if they did not know about all of this. I.. I worked so hard to earn their respect, his respect” Tears began gathering in the corner of Bilbo's eyes and his voice cracked sharply. Beorn nodded in understanding.  
“Come little bunny, we need to get your things ready, do you wish to send any letters?”  
“Yes if possible, there are a few people I should probably alert to the... the situation. Do you have any paper I could borrow?” Then Bilbo seemed to be realizing what he was saying. “It'll, it'll never make it in time will it.” At this Bilbo seemed to drift off looking away sadly not making eye contact.  
“Do not worry about that.” Beorn had a mischievous glance in his eyes. “I have a few...friends...that owe me a favor or two.” Bilbo crooked an eyebrow questionably, to which Beorn simply grinned widely. “Have you no faith in me little bunny?”  
Bilbo continued to look at him inquisitively, but realizing he would get no clear answer he sighed and left it.  
“Now go and get ready, you have a very tiring task ahead of you little bunny.” Bilbo grinned happily and walked off but not before muttering a brief thank you over his shoulder. “Bunny's are always such troublesome creatures.” Now it was Beorn's turn to sigh and he looked fondly after the back of the slowly retreating hobbits back. “I hope he will be alright. Bunnys as little as him deserve a chance.” Then Beorn turned and walked slowly back to his house to call in his 'favors'. From the shadows a thief watched quietly, wondering just what could be just so important to pull their burglar away from them at such a crucial part in the journey. More than that, Nori realized, Bilbo had not been himself during the conversation and neither had Beorn. They had both been talking as though Bilbo was going to die. As if it was certain.  
“What has he gotten himself into this time?” The thief said quietly to himself. Then he fervently hoped to Eru, Mahal, and all the other deities he could think of (yes even the thief ones) that the hobbit would be safe on this unexpected detour of his, no matter what had happened to him.


	2. Letters to Send

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bilbo tells everyone what happened earlier, and he writes letters! Yay! O yea, just fyi, the italics are memories ok? :)

Bilbo rushed of to his rooms after he was out of Beorn's sight, a single, solemn tear slipped down his cheek as he remembered what had happened earlier that day.

_The day had started out fine, everything was as merry as could be; Fili and Kili were up to their usual antics, tying Dwalins twin axes with Ori's string in such a complicated knot, that even Dori and Nori working together could not untie it. And of course, god forbid someone even consider cutting the thread, as Gloin found out when he offered his solution. It appeared Ori was...quite protective...over this new project of his. Bilbo had been chuckling, puffing away on his pipe making smoke rings to shame Gandalf's best, when Thorin decided that the hobbit needed company. The moment Thorin sat down next to Bilbo, the hobbits mood considerably darkened, the dwarf, quite unaware of what was making Bilbo so tense and wary around him decided to break the silence._

_“How has your day been, halfling?” This decidedly, Thorin decided later, had been the wrong thing to say._

_“Halfling? Who in Yavanna's name are you calling a halfling Thorin Oakensheild?!” Bilbo stood up, brushed the imaginary dirt from the back of his pants and glared down his button nose at the confused dwarf below him. “I, Bilbo Baggins, am a hobbit. I am not a HALF of ANYTHING. If you suggest so again, I'm afraid one day you will wake up and all will be quite wrong in your life.” Thorin began to stand, ready to tell Bilbo exactly what he thought of his little outburst, but found that instead the hobbit was no where to be found. The dwarven king sighed, and sat back down to watch the antics of his comrades, thinking that the burglar would be back before the others noticed ready to apologize._

_The day only got worse from there. And after several angry outbursts, everyone left him alone in the garden. That was when Bilbo thought, and thought, and thought a little more. When he finally realized what was wrong, and rushed off to tell Beorn, only Nori had been watching his friend, concerned for his well being._

Now that Bilbo had shaken himself out of his uncharacteristic rage, he quite regretted what he had said. It had been terribly forward of him, and down right rude at the end, and that had been only one of the many instances! But, as his dear mother used to say, there was no use crying over spilt milk. So Bilbo sat down at a desk in one of Beorn's many rooms, and began writing out letters to many friends and relatives of his in the Shire, explaining what had happened and telling them that he himself had caught the Changing, and was to be brought to a large settlement of elves to help him recover.

Lobelia at least, would insist on coming out to take care of him in his last days. His dear cousin Primula, would probably have come, but to the best of Bilbo's knowledge she was still on her honeymoon with Drogo at the moment, and would never be able to reach him in time. Bilbo was confident that a few other of his more adventurous relatives would decide to tag along with Lobelia. 'After all, who would miss up on seeing the great Thranduil's castle?' Bilbo thought wryly, and began packaging up the letters and sealing them delicately with candle wax and one of his few remaining brass buttons. And the last few of his tears fell delicately onto the desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who kudoed and bookmarked I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! You guys are awesome and totally made my day, so yes, maybe I spazed and wrote a chapter in like 30 minutes....Sometimes I do tht. But I'll update tomarrow guys cause I'm tired, but at the same time I really, really don't want to go to bed. 
> 
> Oh yea, anyone figure out what the Changing disease is yet? I'll let it out in a few chapters, but comment if you think you know ;D


	3. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori goes missing, and the company bickers until they split up to search. Nori is found....picking flowers?
> 
> Sorry theres no Bilbo in this chapter, it just shows what was happening to the dwarrows when Bilbo left to write his letters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flowers are kind of important in this story. They give you the full extent of the Nori feels.
> 
> Red Tulips= Declaration of love  
> Stephanotis= Good luck  
> Violets=Faithfulness  
> Peonies= Healing  
> Pansies=Loving thoughts  
> Poppies= Consolation
> 
> These are pretty close to the real meanings.

It took the company a few hours to notice Nori was gone. Even then it was Ori who had tentatively spoken up and asked where his older brother was. The company immediately decided that as much as Bilbo could be trusted on his own, Nori could not.

“Aule knows, by now he's probably taken everythin of value in the damn buildin.” Dwalin shouted. Ori quickly jabbed his elbow into Dwalin's gut.

“Just what did you say about my brother Mister Dwalin?” The boy asked calmly, a hint of steel in his deep brown eyes.

“Nuthin lad, I didn't say nuthin.” Because as we all know, Dwalin is a ferocious and noble warrior, but scribes are just as strong and loyal, especially when their one of the Brothers Ri. 

Dori had nodded his head knowingly when Dwalin's opinion had suddenly changed, and decided to speak up before his youngest brother decided that Dwalin was not apologetic enough yet. “Nori knows when to have manners.” He stoutly declared this, putting a hand on Ori's shoulder. “However, this does not mean that we should leave him running around on his own. I will go look for him, anyone is welcome to join us in our search.” Ori nodded gently, and 11 of the dwarrows standing there said aye.

“Well, if we are going to look for Nori, the best thing to do would be to split up.” Many murmurs of discomfort went around at this declaration, and a few of them began to look a little testy.

“Mister Dori, I mean you no disrespect, but would it not be better to look for Nori together as a group? That way we could all see what he's been doin.” This time it was Bofur who spoke up. Dori frowned at this and turned his head and sighed. 

Thorin stood up, he had been beginning to worry for Bilbo, neither the burglar nor the thief had been seen for quite some time. “Dori is right, we will all split up into pairs to hunt for Nori, if you-” 

“Aye, but remember laddie,” Balin reprimanded him gently. “You yourself did not volunteer to go seek out Nori.”

All eyes turned to Thorin now, some knowing, some amused, but most accusing. “Do you not care enough about my brother, your c-company member, to go seek him out O' King?” Ori had stuttered, but his anger at the king was enough to make him recover and add a dose of sarcasm to the end of his mini outburst , Dori quickly glared at his youngest brother.

“No I merely thought someone should stay and wait to see if he comes back.” Thorin tried desperately to retrieve his honor in front of his friends.

“Does this ave anythin to do with the fact that the Hobbit is gone as well?” This had been Dwalin, with a raised eyebrow and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“N-no.” Thorin stuck his chin out stubbornly. In a valiant attempt to save face he pointed out his injuries. “I'm injured and incapable of searching actively.”

“Aye, and who's fault was that again?”

“Dwalin, as your King, I am ordering you shut up right now or I will personally-” 

“What? As you said yourself your incapable of being active at the moment. But fine, for your sake, since you asked so politely.”

The group chuckled before they decided to head out to search for Nori. Of course, Dwalin and Ori were together, which was quite the coincidence. Bifur and Bombur headed out together, more likely to stop by the kitchen than anywhere else. Dori and Balin decided that they were obviously the only sensible ones of the lot and ought to stick together. Gloin began to walk in a random direction and his brother Oin decided that if anyone was to take care of Gloin, it might as well be him. No one noticed if Oin quickly dropped his ear trumpet on a table as he left. Fili and Kili of course, were together. Bofur decided that the King had the right idea and sat next to him after everyone else had left.

.............. _  
........._ (`-`) _  
......./` '.\ /.' `\  
......``'-.,=,.-'``  
......... .'//v\\\'.  
........(_/\ " /\\_)  
..............'-'

 

In the end, it was Ori who had spotted his brother wandering around in Beorn's garden. Picking flowers and adding them to his hand, Dwalin could not hold back the quick chortle that escaped him and Ori glared fiercely at him before standing up and walking cautiously over to Nori. When he got closer he saw that Nori had picked a collection of Stephanotis, Red Tulips, Violets, Poppies, Pansies, and Peonies. Most of all were the Red Tulips, and when Ori saw this he rushed back to see Dwalin in the shadows.

“Dwalin!” Ori hissed “Look at Nori!”

“Ori lad, why should you be so concerned? All we have to do now is drag him back to the halls.”

“Look at his hands!”

“So hes picking flowers, so what. Maybe he turned queer like Bifur and decided they taste good.”

“He's picking a bouquet idiot!” Ori was beginning to wonder if anyone else in the world understood what it meant when a Ri picked flowers.

“And......” Dwalin still didn't get it.

“There are Red Tulips in it!”

“I'm still not getting it lad,”

“He's _in love!_ ” This woke Dwalin up, he stared shocked into Ori's eyes.

“What with who?” Dwalin yelled this, and Ori shushed him immediately. Ori and Dwalin warily glanced over at Nori who was completely oblivious to the world and was arranging the flowers beautifully. “Is he....alright?”

“I don't think so. But that's besides the point, we have to figure out who hes in love with!” Ori was pulling out a piece of parchment and his quill, writing down all the possibilities.

“Why don't you just ask him?” Dwalin was a terribly straightforward person. 

“You can't just ask someone-”

“Sure you can, watch.” Dwalin stood up and walked over to Nori slowly until he was at his shoulder. “Nori,” 

“Oh, Dwalin.” He frowned distractedly.

“Who's the bouquet for?”

“Bilbo. Why?”

“BILBO????” Ori jumped up shouting. “Your in love with my friend?!” Ori had begun running towards the pair with a dangerous look on his face. Then Dwalin decided to be brave and stepped forward as if to stop him. “Out of my way Dwalin.” Ori spat, but when he finally pushed Dwalin aside, Nori was no where to be found.

Ori fainted from the shock of the beginnings of an eventful day.


	4. Temper Tantrums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I know I said I would have this out last night, but I had some wifi issues. So instead I'm giving you guys two chapters this morning.
> 
> Bilbo runs into Ori and Dwalin, but then has to leave. Then Nori, Thorin and Bofur all get yelled at by a very moody Bilbo.  
> Purple Hyacinth=I'm sorry, sorrow

Bilbo had been leaving, three letters bundled under his arm: one to Lobelia, one to Primula and one to his gardener Hamfast, when he had come across Dwalin hugging Ori possessively and stroking his hair. Bilbo had naturally assumed that the two were in love, but he didn't think he would ever see them in such a compromising position public.

“O-oh I'm sorry I mean, I always thought, but I didn't mean, oh dear.”Bilbo was stuttering now, trying to divert the two dwarrows attention away from himself. Dwalin had begun to blush furiously, understanding what Bilbo was getting at, while Ori, dear Ori, remained quite oblivious. “It-it's a lovely day out isn't it?”

Unfortunately for Bilbo, his attempt to change the subject was entirely ignored. “Bilbo, Bilbo your my friend aren't you?” Ori had weaseled his way out of Dwalin's arms, and was now hugging Bilbo desperately.

“Of course! Is that what thi-” The moment after Bilbo had confirmed that they were friends Ori cut in with another question.

“Your not gonna leave me are you?” Bilbo's eyes softened.

“Of course not Ori, why on middle-earth would I ever leave you?” Bilbo sighed now hugging the young dwarf wrapped around his waist gently.

“Be-Becau-Because Nor-” Nori had appeared from behind them, rushing out of the tree he had climbed, to cover his darling siblings mouth.

“Oh Nori! What are you doing here?” Bilbo disentangled himself from Ori, and began righting his clothes, trying to appear composed when inside, he was anything but.

“I need to talk to you, do you have a moment?” Nori had been hiding the flowers behind his back, but now he shifted so that Bilbo would not see them no matter how hard he attempted to.

“Of course, what exactly do you need to talk about?” Bilbo was putting on a gentle smile now as Dwalin ran over to grab Ori so the boy wouldn't launch himself at Nori again. Of course, Bilbo didn't realize that would happen if Dwalin wasn't there. He just thought Dwalin and Ori were being their usual cute selves.

“Alone.” Nori glanced warily at his brother and Dwalin, his gaze hardening into a glare at Dwalin, which clearly said 'Get your hairy paws off my brother'. Bilbo nodded and smiled shyly, turning to Ori.

“Ori, I'm quite sorry but can we finish this conversation another time?” Ori nodded mutely, and pouted openly. “Now, now Ori, cheer up, you still have Dwalin with you. And now me and Nori will be out of your way.” Dwalin blushed even more fiercely, but neither Nori nor Bilbo, missed the way his hands tightened around his new pair of fingerless gloves.

Nori walked up to Bilbo quietly and placed a hand on his lower back, guiding him to a space where they could talk alone and warning off all the other dwarrows at the same time. 

They walked side by side for a few moments, Nori's hand never wavering and Bilbo never looking at Nori. When they finally reached the perfect spot, on top of a hill surrounded by trees, Nori silently sat down and motioned for Bilbo to sit next to him, all the while hiding the bouquet from Bilbo's view. 

“Bilbo, I have something to discuss with you.” Nori looked to the side avoiding Bilbo's inquisitive gaze. “I-I overheard you and Beorn talking and I-”

_"Nori”_ Bilbo's voice was cold. A very icy, dangerous cold, that made every instinct of Nori's, scream at him to run as fast as he could, away. “That was my _personal_ business. Why did you follow me and listen to something that you should have stayed away from?”

“Well-” Nori tried to answer, but Bilbo wasn't having any of it.

“No, actually I don't want to hear it.” Bilbo stood up and turned away from Nori. “I am sick of all you dwarrows thinking that you can just poke your big, fat noses into things that are for only my ears and people I would trust with them.” Nori hurriedly stood up, the flowers still hidden, and he tried to speak up again.

“If you would only listen to me.”

“NO, YOU STUPID DWARF, YOU LISTEN TO ME!!! I am leaving. I am leaving the company. I am leaving Gandalf. I am leaving you. And if you ever, EVER, try to find me, or figure out where I went, I will personally throttle you so quietly in your sleep, not even the Valar would hear it.” At this, Bilbo left. He strode away angrily, not aware of Nori's open mouth or the single tear strolling down his cheek. 

All Bilbo could think of was the dwarrows. And how infuriatingly stupid and nosy they all were. Hobbit business was, well, hobbit business. Not dwarrow business or thieve business, or even king business. Hobbit business was hobbit business, and it would stay that way until the end of time if he had anything to do with it.

Nori was still standing on the hill, and when Bilbo thought about it, he could almost hear him talk. “I only wanted to wish you safety” But Bilbo was imagining things, wasn't he? It's not like Nori had prepared him a bouquet of flowers to prove his feelings or anything. He was just dreaming; fancy, nonsensical dreams, but dreams nonetheless. It was said though, that the dreaming came close to the end, and if this was true, then Bilbo had little time left. 

As Bilbo walked through the fields, he picked a single purple hyacinth and placed it in his hair. Then he continued on, ignoring all the other dwarrows as they passed by him and tried to ask him where he'd been or if he knew where Nori had escaped to. When he finally got to the main hall he was at the edge of his already worn down patience. Fili and Kili had been adorable at first, but at the moment, they were so annoying, he was mentally going over the consequences of murdering them.

_'Well you'd be rid of them.'_

_'But at what cost? The rest of the company would hate you. Probably kill you too.'_

_'Your leaving anyways, why bother worrying about whether or not they'll hate you?'_

_'You would regret it for the rest of your days.'_

_'Which may I remind you, isn't very long.'_

And just as Kili decided to take the next step in annoying Bilbo, by calling him “Mister Boggins”, in that high pitched whine children use sometimes when they want to bug an adult into letting them get away with something; Bilbo decided that the consequences of killing the boys weren't all that bad.

“Kili. You know very well that my name is _Baggins_ not _Boggins_. You also know how very much that name annoys me. Call me by that name one more time and so help me, I will-” Bilbo was cut off by two pairs of arms wrapping firmly around him, that were most certainly not, Kili and Fili's.

“Bilbo lad! Where've you been? We've been lookin' all over for ya!”

Bilbo sighed heavily. _“Bofur.”_

“Aye lad, and Thorin's 'ere too!”

_“Thorin.”_ Bilbo was growing irate now. Not only was Bofur clinging onto him, but now Thorin too? What in Yavanna's name had he done this time to get their attention ?

“Burglar.” Thorin rumbled, the fact that he had called Bilbo something other than his name already today and gotten a temper tantrum quite slipping his mind.

Today, was just not Thorin's day. Not only did he have an unusually short tempered hobbit on his hands, he was also worse at expressing himself than usual, which was saying a lot. However, this did not mean that Bilbo was going to be lenient with them, if anything, he was going to be harsher.

“Halfling, burglar, what's next Thorin, _tree-shagger?_ You have absolutely no idea what it means to be a hobbit. It isn't as easy as it seems, and you would most certainly die if you ever tried!” Bilbo took a deep breath, trying, and failing, to calm himself. “What gives you the right to care about where I am anyways? You didn't even give a damn about me until a few days ago! You didn't even truly count me as one of the company! All you care about is your mountain and reclaiming it, you don't care that all these dwarrows with you will die, because of your selfishness, in the end, all you care about is the 'honor' in such an act! Well let me tell you something, there is no _honor_ in killing noble subjects of yours that truly care for you.” Thorin tried to interrupt, to tell him it wasn't true, that he loved Bilbo, and that he wasn't just going to reclaim the mountain out of pride. But as Nori learned earlier, a hobbits anger was not something to argue with. The only solution, was to run away, and Thorin was never given the chance.

“And you Bofur?! I thought you knew me well enough to understand that hobbits need their alone time as well, but apparently you didn't know that as well as I thought you did!” Thorin had already pulled away aghast, at what the hobbit had said, terrorized by the truth of it. “Bofur you are very kind, and overly foolish. You need your whittling to survive. Even I can see that. Bet you wouldn't know what to do if you lost a hand, or your eyes. Probably end up relying on someone else for everything, doing nothing for the rest of your life.” Bilbo scoffed as Bofur started backing away from the hobbit as well now, afraid that the hobbit he had once called friend, had changed so drastically, that he would never be the same. That the Bilbo Baggins he knew and loved was gone. “You are both great dwarrows, but you both have your faults, and are far to possessive of things that _aren't yours!_ Such as me! I am leaving, and I hope dearly, that I will _never_ have to see your faces again.” With that, Bilbo strode out, for the 4th time that day, going to see Beorn one last time, and give out the letters he had written to his family back home.

After Bilbo left the room, Thorin leaned over quietly to Bofur and asked, “Do you think he really meant what he said, when he said he never wanted to see us ever again?” Bofur shrugged, trying to seem casual even though every muscle in his entire body was tense. 

“That's not wha' I'm concerned about. Do ya think 'e's alright? Maybe 'e's sick or somethin...” Thorin shook his head sadly.

“Perhaps, I hope so. But I'm afraid I'd be lying if I said I thought he was.”


	5. Injured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the next few chapters I'm either going to have a troop of elves come pick Bilbo up, or have him suffer through Mirkwood on his own. I'm honestly going to flip a coin at this point, so if you have any ideas or a prefrence please tell me.
> 
> Nori and Bilbo feels for a while. But then they travel, while back at Beorn's Bofur and Thorin are getting filled in on what happened with Nori. Then Gandalf finally arrives! YAY!!

Bilbo had said goodbye to Beorn quickly, turning away and hopping on to the pony given to him. Bilbo had grown stronger in the many months he had spent adventuring with the dwarrows, and he was going to use that to it's full advantage now, he was no longer plump and round like a proper hobbit. Instead, he was lean, wiry, and his skin had tanned slightly, going from an unnatural pale to a healthy faint shade of gold. His hair had also grown, now reaching his shoulders when it was left down. Fortunately, he had received several hair ties from different members of the company. His favorite was the one Nori had given him though, it was leather and well used. It had pale lines crisscrossing it, making it clear just how many times the thief had almost lost his life. Also, Bilbo knew, it smelt distinctly of Nori. It smelt like the woods, faint spices that promised delicious food, and the underlying hint of dirt. That was Bilbo's favorite scent he decided as he used the old hair band to pull his now to long hair into a tight ponytail, Nori's scent. Of course, Bilbo would never admit to this, or that he had purposely lost the ties Bofur and Thorin had given him. If anyone asked, he would just pretend they were in a different pouch on his bag. 

Bilbo cared deeply for Thorin and Bofur, but in all honesty, his feelings for them were completely platonic. Just the thought of doing, doing _that_ , with them was enough to make him sick. Nori however, was a completely different story. The dwarrow's crazy hair, and the way he was smaller than the others, yet still bigger than Bilbo, was enough to drive the hobbit crazy. And it wasn't just physical attraction, Bilbo loved the way Nori cared for his brothers, the way he teased everyone in the company, and used bad puns to keep the dark thoughts away at night. Bilbo wasn't sure he loved Nori himself though. That was the problem. See, Bilbo was a hobbit, a male hobbit in fact. And a male hobbit getting together with a male dwarf, when they were not at all in love with each other, was just not considered done. 

As Bilbo pondered this, a copper haired thief sat high in a tree above him, holding a bouquet of flowers carefully in his hands as if the slightest of breezes would shatter them forever. Nori, in all honesty, had been quite unnerved at Bilbo's anger at him earlier, but it did not put him off. He was determined to keep Bilbo safe, even if Bilbo himself did not want him to. 

After all, a dwarrow only loves once. And once they do, they will do anything to protect the object of their adoration. Love can be interpreted in many ways though, a fool could see that Thorin and Bofur thought they loved Bilbo. But a blind man could tell that they were truly meant for each other. Nori knew Bilbo was his one though, he had had lovers before, he had courted and been courted, but none of them had ever given Nori the feeling that Bilbo did. Dwarrows were said to feel the love in different ways, for Nori, it was although he were undertaking his greatest theft yet. The adrenaline pumping through him, and at the same time a deep calmness snaking it's way over him like a meandering river.

Nori was not aware of whether, or not, hobbits had One's though. In fact, no one he knew did know, and Nori knew many beings. But Nori put the distracting thoughts behind himself, he was there to protect Bilbo. Not to think about Bilbo, he could do that anywhere, not just on top of a 100 foot tall tree.

…......._  
...._ (`-`) _  
../` '.\ /.' `\  
..``'-.,=,.-'``  
.....'//v\\\'.  
...(_/\ " /\\_)  
…......'-'

Bilbo's pony was trudging along through the woods when suddenly, she stopped. She whinnied nervously and began stamping her feet, trying to get away from the thicket in front of them. It was dark, gloomy almost as though it would swallow Bilbo alive if he tried to cross into it. Bilbo had been told this would happen by Beorn though. Beorn had given him enough supplies for a few weeks, and some crucial advice. Beorn had told Bilbo, that he would have to send the pony back when he reached the beginning of Mirkwood, he had also told Bilbo to never, ever, under any circumstances, leave the path. Bilbo thought that was marvelous advice when he looked around. Mirkwood was nothing if not frightening. Worst of all, Bilbo could feel through his feet how very wrong the land was. How the green plants had wilted, and weeds had begun to grow in their place, blocking out the sun. How the creatures of the night had grown and taken over the land. It amazed, and scared, Bilbo to think that this had once been the beautiful Greenwood, many centuries ago.

Nori's thoughts on Mirkwood were similar to Bilbo's. He had been told by his ancestors of what a lovely place it used to be, but he had also seen Mirkwood before now. He had traveled through it many times to visit strange customers, or to join far away caravans over distant mountains when Dori told him to leave and not come back. No matter how many times Nori had traveled through it though, Mirkwood was still a difficult place to handle. It was so gloomy that the dark seemed to pull at your very soul, spiriting away all your happiness, until there was nothing left but sad desperation. Now he would have to get off his tree and follow Bilbo on land it seemed, and he honestly couldn't say he was happier because of it.

It had been a couple of days now. Bilbo was following the path, making good progress each day before stopping to rest at night. He never slept long, an hour or two at most; he had woken up the first morning with half of his remaining supplies gone, and his temporary camp for the night had been almost entirely destroyed. After that, Bilbo never slept for long, getting up and walking a few miles in between his hours of sleep. Bilbo was beginning to see the sense in traveling in a company, and almost regretting leaving alone as he did, almost. But there was nothing to do for it now, all he could do at this point, was continue walking, resting when he could.

Nori was never more than a mile away from Bilbo, and never closer than a hundred feet. He felt that getting any closer would alert Bilbo to his presence, but any further away and Bilbo would find some way to get into serious trouble. Nori had also learned a valuable lesson the first night when night critters destroyed Bilbo's camp, he had been afraid ever since that something bigger would come and eat Bilbo before Nori was able to save the hobbit. So to compromise, he only ever slept very, very lightly so that the tiniest of whimpers from the hobbit would wake him up immediately. Nori also had his own bag of supplies, filled lightly with left overs from the meals at Beorns Hall and medical supplies he had snitched from Oin at the start of their quest, of course at the bottom of his bag was a pressed bouquet.

It was on the third day that Bilbo finally injured himself. He had been being careful, but not careful enough, he had tripped and landed on a sharp rock that cut deep into his palm. It took Bilbo a moment to build up the courage to move, it hurt, it hurt so much. But Bilbo did his best to disinfect the wound, and wrap it up, however, Bilbo was not the most skillful at healing. After he took care of it the best he could, he lay down to rest and maybe recover enough energy to actually do something about his hand. 

Nori had waited only 10 minutes after the hobbit went to sleep, to rush in to help. It had really not been quite enough time, but Bilbo was injured and that had worried Nori more than anything else ever could. At least Ori could handle himself, and he had Dori and Dwalin looking out for him. Bilbo only ever had himself and Nori, and Bilbo was not the most suited person to adventuring. 

Nori quickly unwrapped Bilbo's shoddy work, and looked for himself to see how deep the wound was. Nori winced when he saw just how big the rock had been, it seemed more like Bilbo had been stabbed with a short dagger, rather than a large rock. “That's gonna leave a nasty scar Bilbo...” Nori murmured quietly as he began to re clean and dress the injury. 

“Nori,” Nori stiffened and looked down, startled that the hobbit had woken up, but then he saw how Bilbo's eyes were still shut tight and he smiled gently. 

“Awww, little bit of a sleep talker are we?” Nori's eyes glinted with humor, and happiness that he had been the one to see this side of Bilbo. And that Bilbo had said his name. All the same though, he continued on quieter than ever.

When he finished, he gently kissed the bandages, watching Bilbo's face for any sign of a reaction. When he got none he sighed, and ran his fingers through the hobbits hair gently as he stood up. Nori's hand was stopped halfway though, so he took a peek to see what had gotten stuck in Bilbo's hair. When he saw it was the hair tie he had given to Bilbo, Nori smiled, and took his hand out of Bilbo's hair. Nori left quietly then, and retreated half a mile to rest for half an hour. His mind insistingly repeating the fact that Bilbo had been wearing his hair tie in his hair, not to mention Bilbo had said Nori's name in his sleep. Not anyone elses. And so, Nori passed into a deeper slumber than he had had in days, with a small smile on his lips.

When Bilbo woke up a few hours later, the first thing he noticed, was that his hand now hurt nowhere near as bad as it had before. He knew that there was no way that he had bound the bandages on his hand, they were much to neat for that. Then Bilbo realized that he was obviously not alone in the forest, and he had at least one being on his side, whatever species it might be. That day was the first of many, in which Bilbo walked with a bit of a skip in his step, despite the horrors of the forest around him.

…......._  
...._ (`-`) _  
../` '.\ /.' `\  
..``'-.,=,.-'``  
… .'//v\\\'.  
...(_/\ " /\\_)  
…..............'-'

If Bofur was leaning gently on Thorin's shoulder as the two mulled over Bilbo's words that night, no one said anything about it. Neither of the two were asked to move, or to do anything at all, for the rest of the day. All their meals were brought to them, and the discussions on the upcoming travel through Mirkwood were put off. In fact, Bofur had been entirely silent the entire time, holding his beloved hat in his hands, drifting in between sleeping and crying openly. Thorin had merely grunted when asked questions about what had happened, although his _darling_ nephews Fili and Kili, were more than willing to fill in what had happened to the rest of the group.

Again, Bilbo and Nori were missing, but everyone was to busy listening to the boys embellished tale, to notice a few missing company members. It was not until the next morning when Balin decided that he had, had enough of Thorin's sulking.

“Thorin, this is not the way to deal with yer grief laddie. I thought I taught ye better than this.” Balin's hands were quite predictably on his hips, as he looked down at the miserable King Under the Mountain. “Get up and move lad, the pain'll only get worse, so long as ye do nuthin about it.” At this Thorin looked up, and Balin was shocked into speechlessness at the clear pain and bleakness in Thorin's blue eyes.

“What am I supposed to do Balin? He said he never wanted to see me again! I couldn't chase him down, that would be make him think I don't care about what he wants at all.” Thorin hung his head sorrowfully.

“Who on middle-earth said ye had to chase him down? All I'm saying is that ye need to get off yer lazy arse and lead this company! I can handle this lot for a few days, but I'm done now, I can't do it anymore.” With this Balin turned away, and said softly over his shoulder. “I can't fix all the hurt laddie, I can't tell ye how to make it go away, I can only show ye how to move on and live with it.”

It took Thorin a minute, but finally he decided Balin had a point, he wasn't going to mope in the corner like some pining milkmaid any longer. But first, he had to find out how to get Bofur off his shoulder. It took longer than he would have liked, but Thorin eventually managed to shove a pile of furs into the space where he had been without waking Bofur. After all, no one likes to wake up Bofur. Bad things happen when you wake up Bofur, and Thorin knew this.

Thorin immediately went to the dining hall, where he saw all the dwarrows in his company sitting close to each other, talking in low voices. Occasionally, he heard them say Bilbo or Nori, but other than that, the conversation was a mystery to him. Curious, he went over to have a look. On his way to one of the few remaining empty seats, many sympathetic glances and pats on the back were given to him. He shrugged them off with thankful nods and sometimes a slight crook of his lips that was almost a smile but not quite.

When he was finally siting in his seat, he took a moment and figured out what everyone was talking about. It seemed that both Bilbo and Nori were missing, again. Bilbo was no surprise, but Nori? Hadn't Ori found him yesterday?

“Didn't Ori and Dwalin find Nori yesterday?” The whole company of dwarrows nodded. “So why is he still missing?”

“Why, you really were out of it yesterday weren't you?” This was Gloin, after he said his part, he started laughing quietly. Or rather, as quietly as he could, which wasn't very quietly.

At Thorin's oblivious look, Balin took pity on his king. “Nori was found picking flowers for a bouquet.”

“A bouquet.... Does that mean he's-” Thorin was slowly piecing the puzzle together, he was still missing one rather important part of it though.

Dwalin grinned. “Nori loves Bilbo lad. Asked him me self. We think 'e's headin out after our burglar.” Thorin's face went pale with shock, and then with rage.

“WHAT?! Nori's in love with Bilbo?!” Unfortunately, Thorin said this so loudly, that it woke Bofur up as well. Soon, Bofur was in worse mood than Thorin. Both were running around, screaming, throwing bags together, and shoveling food into their mouths as fast as they could. The two had been prepared to fight with each other for Bilbo's love, but they hadn't expected another dwarrow to join in the fight. Especially not Nori, why, most of the members in the company (aside from Dori and Ori of course) had thought the thief incapable of love!

“They're being loud enough to wake Smaug from his slumber.” Gloin chuckled at his comment and continued to eat leisurely. 

“Everyone! Pack your bags! We leave to find Bilbo in two hours!” Thorin yelled.

Unknown to all the dwarrows, Gandalf was standing in the doorway, an amused smile on his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry guys this is my first fanfiction, so like if it sucks yea....sorry. But, I'm a sporadic person and I don't know when I'll update again....Probably tomorrow but don't bet anything on it. Btw, I hate the word tomorrow, I never spell it right!!!! And I didn't really edit so sorry if theirs any mistakes, feel free to comment on it lolz. Anyways, the next chapter will be started, sometime, and so yea. Toodaloos love you all thank you for reading this. Leave a kudos after the beep. ;)
> 
> BEEEEEEEP!!!!!
> 
> (Sorry, couldn't resist :D)


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